11/08/09

Excellent Staff

by steeveo

I've lived in Chapel Hill for over 25 years and La Res is a staple of this community. There is a reason this establishment is one of the few that have not come and gone like so many other restaurants in the downtown area.

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While I have not eaten dinner here, I was prompted to write this simply because of the class and professional demeanor demonstrated by the staff at La Res. When I my iPhone went missing here one evening, every single member of the staff -- from the bus crew. bartenders, door attendant, night manager, and even the following day manager-- immediately came to my assistance.

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They used their personal cell phones to ring my phone, they searched behind the bar and around all the tables, and tag-teamed with other staff to ensure other sections of the restaurant were searched thoroughly. All this was done while tending to the needs of other customers in an highly efficient manner during an extremely busy time in the evening.

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When I called the next day, the day manager was just as attentive and searched the restaurant (again) for me. She passed the message on to her night counterpart who she assured me would continue the search.

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This is a highly professional, well-run business and the staff should be commended for their efforts in customer service.

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• Pros: Atmosphere that exudes "Class"
• Cons: None listed

09/23/09

Inconsistent

by missotisregrets

We'd had two really top-notch meals there in the past, but the last two times we've gone, both the service and food quality seem to be diminishing. After our last visit (incredibly bland scallops for me, overcooked lamb for him, and a cheesecake we could barely taste - for $100, this is just not acceptable), we decided, you know, we love the atmosphere, maybe we'll just go for drinks one night. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake - the evening cocktails crowd is very different from the dinner crowd, and the bar area ended up smelling like Players at 2am. We couldn't hear each other over the drunk, rude clientele. I could barely get to the bathroom for all the co-eds stumbling and dancing over one another. We were sitting on the patio - which is just a truly, truly beautiful place, the atmosphere is stunning - but eventually it became uncomfortable there, too, so we left. Don't know now if we'll ever go back.

• Pros: The most beautiful atmosphere
• Cons: Sub-par food for the $$$, "fratty" night crowd

07/22/09

OK restaurant, but there are better places

by camelguys

We just went there last night. The overall asmostphere is pretty good. Apperently there was only 2 people working as hostess/server/bartender altogether. We sat outside. The bread came out in decent time. I like the bread they served. It's kind of herbs and cheese roasted, pretty light but tasty. The menu we were offered, however, had only 4 entree items (lamb, chicken, NY strip, and some kind of pasta I forgot the name-graffy or something like that) . I was excited to see the grilled lamb, but the was informed they were out of it. Flat tire. So I went with the steak and my girlfriend decided to get 2 appertizers: the mushroom and asparagus flambee and Grilled tenderloin with salad. The food came out in decent time, not too long, not too fast. My steak was decent, avegare. It was not bad but for 30$, you could have had a better steak somewhere else (Ruth Chris has awesome steak) or you can go to TGI Friday and have the same quality steak for half the price. My girlfriend's food was better. The tenderloin was served cold (we were told this when ordered), there was about 5 slices, cooked medium rare to rare, with a Asian-like salad. You have to eat the tenderloin and the salad together to bring out the flavor. It's pretty creative. The mushroom and asperagus were a sautee mixture served over bread. It also had some pretty good flavor with it. Overall, it wasn't bad. But there are places in the triangle you can if you want to spend 60-100$ for dinner and it's much better quality food and ambiance. I recommend Sain Jaques (Wake Forrest Rd, I think) or Second Empire (downtown Raleigh) before this.

• Pros: Food is good
• Cons: service, price, lack of menu items